Thursday, March 13, 2014

Cassandra changes name

Posted by
Ugo Bardi

In almost five years on the Web, "Cassandra's legacy" had a reasonable success, reaching an average of some 30,000 page views per month and a total of about 850,000 page views. But, as you see from the figure, in the past year or so, the number of contacts has been declining. Cassandra has peaked.

Many things have been changing in the world and it is time to take notice. We are seeing is a "leopard spot" pattern of peaking. Some countries are still growing, others have peaked and are declining. It depends on the availability of natural resources, on the structure of the economy, and other parameters. Countries which are importing most of their mineral commodities - such as Italy - are the most affected; others are doing better, so far. In any case, nothing ever remains the same. This blog, too, must change.

I have already changed the name of Cassandra's Italian sister - the blog named, today, "Effetto Risorse" (resource effect). I was sorry to discard the beloved Cassandra name but, with the new title, the Italian blog experienced a real boom in attention. Apparently, "Cassandra" has a negative ring to it. It is not Cassandra's fault, of course; after all, she had been always right in her predictions. But we need to take into account how most people feel, so a new name is in order also for the English version.

Accordingly, I renamed the blog from the title of my new book which will be available next month "Extracted". The name says it all, I think: we have extracted our way to prosperity but now we are entering an age of diminishing returns from extraction. We will have to learn how to live with less. This blog will explore this transition.

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Note added after the publication of this note. I received a few comments from people who think that the name "Extracted" doesn't really sound right. Which may well be the case: not being a native English speaker, I have troubles in getting the exact "feeling" of this or that word in English. So, the title of the blog can be changed (although not any more that of the book!). If you have ideas orsuggestions, please let me know in the comments or write to me at ugo.bardi@unifi.it

Oh.... well, the Seneca cliff is our destiny anyway! About the two peak, the first one is about a colossal blunder about neutrinos made by the Italian ministry of scientific research. The second one must be the one about the Easter Egg hunt analyzed by the Hubbert model

The new name is OK; but I like the Italian name better. Problem: I do not know the Italian language, I have to fudge from Spanish (I am English-Spanish bilingual). But what matters is the blog, which I like very much and check daily.

David F Collins

I am glad to see the Cassandra name go. It is too negative on the credibility issue.

Ugo-Choice of words is all important because it is from our words that others extract their internal understandings.

With that said, I suggest that at least for the American side of the English-speaking pond, the word "extracted" may not be the most appropriate word. It can have the connotation of, don't worry --there is plenty more of where that was drawn out from.

For example, consider this sentence spoken by you medical doctor: "I have extracted some blood from your vein by using this small needle. Do not worry. Your body has plenty more of this blood stuff and will soon replenish what little I have extracted."

Moreover, the word "extracted" has the connotation of referring only to that which cannot be readily seen. One does not "extract" trees from the forest or fish from the sea or clean water from the rivers.

Perhaps a catchy name (if not already taken) like "Depleted Planet" may be more revealing of the message you wish to convey to your English speaking readers.

Having been involved with lots of naming projects (both companies and products) during my career, I agree with Step Back, that "Extracted" is not a great rename of your BlogSite. Depleting Plant is better. Here are some other suggestions: Net Energy Rewind, Kilocalorie Kliff (a takeoff of your Seneca Cliff headline). I will let you know if I think of others, meanwhile stay with Cassandra.

Thanks for this suggestion, Neven. It is a nice name, but I must confess that, right now, I'm confused. Don't know any more what name to give to the blog, if it should have a different name, or what????? Still thinking about that.....

I note that in my link to your blog it still says Cassandra's legacy. Is there some meta data you should change or do I have to delete the link and make a new, to make Blogger understand you have a new name?

Who

Ugo Bardi is a member of the Club of Rome and the author of "Extracted: how the quest for mineral resources is plundering the Planet" (Chelsea Green 2014)

The Seneca Effect

The Seneca Effect: is this what our future looks like?

Ugo Bardi's blog

The depletion of the cheap ores that we have been extracting up to now is at the root of our economic problems.

Extracted

A report to the Club of Rome published by Chelsea Green. (click on image for a link)

About the author

Ugo Bardi teaches physical chemistry at the University of Florence, in Italy. He is interested in resource depletion, system dynamics modeling, climate science and renewable energy. Contact: ugo.bardi(littlewhirlything)unifi.it.